The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said on Thursday it was shocked by the announcement of further job cuts by Telkom at a time when parties were still negotiating alternatives.
The CWU was reacting to a news report this week stating that Telkom planned to reduce costs by cutting its workforce by between 7% and 10% a year over the next three years.
The CWU said that the announcement was premature and cast a shadow on various processes that sought to minimise the impact of job losses.
The union said it would not allow workers, particularly in the ICT industry, to be distracted from celebrating the first 10 years of democracy.
On Thursday Telkom clarified its position on headcount reductions.
According to Telkom Human Resources group executive Oupa Magashula, the number of fixed-line staff was indeed expected to decrease at the reported figures and Telkom aimed, within the next few years, to reduce staff costs as a percentage of revenue from 22,6% in 2003 to about 17%.
Magashula emphasised, however, that this process was likely to be driven largely by natural attrition that was currently at 4,5% and by voluntary severance and early retirement packages.
”We are seeing increasing substitution of fixed-line for mobile services, and we are expecting to lose a portion of the fixed-line market to the second network operator once it has been licensed.
”Technological advancements are also informing our approach to managing our human capital requirements as we continue to deliver value to our shareholders,” Magashula said.
He added that employees whose jobs became redundant would have a choice of going into Telkom’s Agency for Career Opportunities for up to 12 months with full pay and benefits while waiting to be redeployed or reskilled within Telkom or elsewhere in the ICT sector.
Telkom would only explore the retrenchment route after it had exhausted the agency process, Magashula said. — Sapa